ABOUT WENDY NIXON STOTHERT
RESONATIONRESONATIONChoral Valley Events and Workshops is spearheaded by Wendy Nixon Stothert, a choral director in the Comox Valley, BC, Canada.
Wendy Nixon Stothert, B.Ed, M.EdL, began piano lessons and singing at age 6 and was hooked on music from then on. She is currently the choral conductor for 5 adult community choirs, including the 3 Just in Time Choirs, the Canadian Military Wives Choir Comox, and the choir at the Berwick Retirement Community. Wendy leads the CV Pop-Up Choir, a fun-focused one night, one pop song, drop-in choir, as well as the Resonation drop-in singing circle, and is teaching Collaborative Vocal Improvisation. She is passionate about bringing people together to experience connection and community through collective singing. As a school music educator, Wendy taught K-12 Music, Band and Choir in the Comox Valley school district. After 17 years, she left the school system in 2014 to pursue community music leading. As a performer, you can hear Wendy sing as a soloist, leading Resonate Custom Live Music, and with the 80's cover band, Ricochet!. Wendy strongly believes in the power of the Arts to build connection and a feeling of belonging within the community. She currently serves as a Director on the Sid Williams Theatre Society board and is the board Secretary for CVOX, a local non-profit community radio station. A life-long learner at heart, Wendy completed her Masters of Educational Leadership degree at Vancouver Island University in 2012, being awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic achievement. Wendy's Masters degree inquiry centered on Music Performance Anxiety in choral singers. She has been a Finalist in the Comox Valley Local Hero Award: Community Builder category and was the Local Hero: Arts Ambassador Winner in 2022. Her choirs have been Finalists or Winners in the Comox Valley Record’s Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Choir since 2016. In April 2025, she was awarded the Amy Ferguson Award from the BC Choral Federation, given to “an outstanding choral director who is also an excellent vocal teacher fostering superior vocal practice”. Aside from spending quality time with her family and being outside, facilitating rewarding singing experiences with people to help spread positivity and connection in community through music is one of her greatest joys. Wendy's Masters degree inquiry focused on Music Performance Anxiety in choral singers. Her articles on the subject have appeared in journals such as Canadian Music Educator Journal, BC Music Educator Journal, and Choral Director Magazine (www.choraldirectormag.com/2350/articles/performance/musical-performance-anxiety/), and Chorus America https://www.chorusamerica.org/singers/overcoming-musical-performance-anxiety. One of Wendy's career highlights to date was conducting 190 singers from 9 Canadian Military Wives Choirs in the Opening Ceremonies of the Invictus Games 2017 in Toronto. Wendy is available as a clinician for workshops and festivals. "Wendy Nixon Stothert was selected to direct the combined Canadian Military Wives Choirs at the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto on September 23, 2017. Wendy had only one day of rehearsals to work with nearly 200 women from eight different choirs from across the country. Wendy’s energy, enthusiasm and passion for teaching music were evident from the start as she captured the attention of every woman in the room. In a very short period of time, through a series of fun and educational vocal exercises and warm-ups, Wendy had created a beautiful, unified sound making it seem like the women had sung together for many years. Wendy proved to be a very friendly, caring, and patient leader and was the perfect choice to successfully lead the women of the combined Canadian Military Wives Choirs in a very high-profile international event." |